FeedsMcClanahan appointed permanent public safety director
Carl McClanahan will get a chance to ‘finish what he started’.
McClanahan, appointed as interim director of the Van Buren Department of Public Safety last year, was appointed full-time director Tuesday night.
The board of trustees voted 6-2 to make the appointment permanent, said Township Supervisor Paul White. Treasurer Sharry Budd and Trustee Jeff Jahr voted against it; Trustee Phil Hart was absent—White said he was traveling.
“I think Carl McClanahan is an outstanding choice for us,” said White. “He’s invested in the township.
“We went through a specific process as we stated we would and Director McClanahan came out on top,” White added. “It validates the original appointment.”
McClanahan formally succeeds Jerry Champagne, who White fired a year ago in May. Champagne sued the township, earning a $450,000 settlement, and has since gone on to be the director of public safety in the City of Ecorse.
The township advertised for the position and had candidates evaluated through EMPCO, which White said was a top-notch, professional consulting firm based in Troy. The township received 37 resumes for the position and developed a list of four finalists, including recently retired Westland Police Chief Jim Ridener and Scott Pavlik, a captain from the City of Troy Police Department along with Paul J. Myszenski, who served as interim public safety director in Bloomfield Hills. Ridener and Pavlik both dropped out of consideration prior to their second interview with the township, however.
Jahr said his vote was not against the individual, but the process.
“I truly believe that this process was never intended to secure the best possible candidate for this position, but to ensure that Mr. McClanahan would get the permanent job,” he said in a prepared statement.
Budd agreed. She said EMPCO provided the township with test scores, but did not inform officials of the types of questions they asked. The test scores were all within four points of each other. EMPCO did not look at the candidates’ resumes, Budd said, and they also wouldn’t say whether they gave added weight to the fact that McClanahan was a resident of Van Buren Township and had held the interim position.
Budd said McClanahan has been treated differently from the start—he was the only interim director offered benefits and he will be the only director given a salary increase this year.
“I’m just frustrated,” she said.
White said McClanahan would sign the contract on Wednesday and then move forward.
“He’ll continue to perform as he has in the past,” said White of McClanahan. “I’ve been very pleased with what he’s done.”
